CASSOPOLIS — The Cassopolis/Vandalia Area Chamber of Commerce works to assist the local community in several ways, but most notably by promoting healthy business relationships.

“Basically, we’re here to support the businesses, but then we also end up supporting community projects and supporting our schools,” said Darren Williamson, the vice chair of the Cassopolis/Vandalia Area Chamber of Commerce. “All of these things are going to strengthen the business community, so we haven’t limited ourselves.”

The chamber members who are leading the way are the board of directors. Every year, about half of them are up for reelection. This year, there are six board members whose two-year term is up.

The way the process works is that once a board member’s term is up, they have the option to automatically be put up for re-election if they want to be. After they make their decision, their names are sent in a letter to all chamber members. At that time, other members can also decide to pursue seats on the board. In order to do that, they must be nominated by a petition bearing the signatures of at least 10 chamber members.

Members were notified of this in a letter dated March 28. Petitions must be filed with current Board President Steve Meyer, by Wednesday, April 25. A meeting will take place on the same date at noon at the Cass County Council on Aging.

Williamson says that chamber members who are interested in joining the board should contact him because he can help them obtain the signatures necessary to be on the ballot.

“That part might sound a little scary,” Williamson said. “But we can do the legwork for them.”

If no petitions are filed, the six returning nominees will be declared elected by the board. The maximum number of board of directors the chamber can have is 15. Including the current nominees, there are 13 potential board directors, meaning that two new members can be elected without replacing those seeking reelection.

All community members are welcome to attend any of the chamber’s meetings, which happen almost every month.

“We usually meet every month throughout the year, with the exception of July, and our meetings are open to the public always, so anybody who wants to come as a guest is more than welcome to come by and sit in through a meeting,” Williamson said. “They’re given an opportunity at the beginning of the meeting to introduce themselves and ask questions that they have. Some people just want to just come and sit and listen. Some people want to find out information about different things, so we’re pretty flexible. We’ll let anybody come — talk, ask questions, get a feel for what we’re all about.”